161–167 of 167 posts
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No criteria per se -- everyone is welcome. We're just rate-limiting it a bit to make sure that everyone has a good experience.
I've just sent my "notify me", but the response left me a little uncertain: "We’ll get back to you as soon as we launch in Germany.". So... is this what I need to do to get into the beta? Or is there something else I need to do?
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Stripe has never participated in any kind of government surveillance program. Quite the opposite -- we're trying to figure out new ways to protect our users: https://stripe.com/blog/towards-transparency . As CEO, I'll do everything in my power to make sure that that remains the case. If you follow me on Twitter (I'm @patrickc), you'll notice that I'm no fan of this stuff.
Just to make this clear, I don't doubt your personal integrity. However, I have lost faith in the ability of US-based companies using US-fiber and US datacenters to protect against NSA snooping. I am not naive - I have no doubt that German fiber is monitored as well, but afaik LE could gain access to your servers and serve you a gag order - something they could not do over here. So, my comment was in no way specific…
Having said that, in the particular domain of electronic payments, I think that meaningful privacy is (sadly) a mostly unattainable goal: it seems safe to assume that the card companies themselves collaborate with all kinds of surveillance. Given that everything ultimately becomes a transaction on those networks, what happens at the edges matters less.
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Nice calculator; but it misses the currency conversion costs. You can't get $9.46 as a UK merchant - you get paid in £GBP and they add another 2% from mid-market rate - so $9.27 would be more accurate.
Thanks. Stripe.com says Charges made in a currency for which you haven't connected a bank account will be converted to your default currency. A 2% fee applies for currency conversion, and all fees are calculated in the currency we transfer to you. So you can avoid it by having an USD / EUR account. Or you have to pay this 2% fee. I will add a note to the page.
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In what way? As a user, you get your order confirmation and while it might take a bit longer for the money to arrive, that's really not even noticeable for most e-commerce transactions. I much prefer debit, as it makes it much easier for me to get my money back if the seller doesn't deliver.
As a user, you get your order confirmation and while it might take a bit longer for the money to arrive Setting up Direct Debits, at least the UK version, it's not "a bit longer" for your money to arrive, it's confirmation several days later vs. within seconds. For ongoing payments like subscriptions this probably isn't a huge deal, but for one-off payments it makes less sense. I much prefer debit, as it makes it muc…
If I remember correctly, the e-commerce systems can check if the account is valid, and as most have overdraft and thus the responsibility for getting the money is transferred to the client's credit institute, there's little risk.
Yes, for downloads this can be a hassle, but it's not like this is the only payment option used by people, so it's not a big bother if direct debit isn't offered in this case or you're going through an intermediate solution like e.g. paypal. I think most people would prefer alternative solutions for one-time payments anyway, i.e. if they don't think they'll be a regular customer.
Not sure how the recent SEPA regulations will affect this...
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I've just sent my "notify me", but the response left me a little uncertain: "We’ll get back to you as soon as we launch in Germany.". So... is this what I need to do to get into the beta? Or is there something else I need to do?
Good point; we'll update that wording.
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Germans pay by card all the time (I think you know them as debit cards?), we just don't use credit cards, because there is no advantage of doing so. Every "giro" account comes with one, and you can use it at the ATM and at the cash register. I think this is because historically, wire transfers between most banks in Germany have been easy and cheap for decades, while it is different in the US, as I understand it.
Wire (instant) transfers from consumer US bank accounts typically carry a $25/transaction fee, and in some cases can only be initiated by phone or in person. Interestingly, Citi has a nice web interface for person-to-person ACH transfers (direct deposit), but it's not widely used and I don't think most other banks have it.
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Wire (instant) transfers from consumer US bank accounts typically carry a $25/transaction fee, and in some cases can only be initiated by phone or in person. Interestingly, Citi has a nice web interface for person-to-person ACH transfers (direct deposit), but it's not widely used and I don't think most other banks have it.
Wow, $25 per transaction is insane! So, just to make sure I don't get this wrong: in the US, most people can't login to their bank's website and transfer cash to someone else's account for free? Its usually not instantaneous (I think EC is, though), but rarely takes more than 1-2 days between different banks.
It would be impractical to use this for most payments because the recipient has no indication that the transaction is actually going to take place until at least the next business day.
When individuals buy from merchants in the US, they almost always use a MasterCard or Visa (sometimes attached to a checking account, sometimes to a line of credit) via magnetic swipe or by typing the number. Individuals settle with each other individuals (tutoring, babysitting, reimbursing tickets, etc) using paper checks or cash.
I believe there are some startups targeting person-to-person payments, but most involve transaction fees and/or or creating an account with your banking details, neither of which anyone wants.